Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

No physical characteristics affect use of this material.

Preferred Citation

Ebenezer Cemetery Company Records, 1888-1993 (M 071), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

Ebenezer Cemetery Company, Bloomfield, VA.

Alternative Form Available

None

Accruals

2005.0145

Processing Information

Shannon Fuller, 31 July 2012

Historical Information

The Ebenezer Church, also referred to as Ebenezer Meeting House, located in Bloomfield, Loudoun County, Virginia was constituted in April 1804 by nine members of the Goose Creek Baptist Church and eight members of the Ketoctin Baptist Church who were dismissed from their congregations for the purpose of creating a new congregation. In 1834, doctrinal split and accusations and investigations of disorderly conduct resulted in the division of the congregation into the Old School and New School doctrines. In January 1834, Samuel Butcher, Jr. (fl. 1830s) deeded two acres of land to trustees of Ebenezer Church and gave instructions to allow any party of Baptist to use the Ebenezer Meeting House.

Both the Old School and New School Baptist congregations used the meeting house from 1834-1855. In 1855, the New School congregation built their own church after a fire in the Old Church. The New School built the New Church on land deeded from William Galleher (fl. 1850s) and his wife, Mary Galleher (fl. 1850s). In 1887, Ebenezer Cemetery Company was incorporated, and New Church's cemetery was chartered in 1888, however there is evidence of burials prior to the official chartering of the cemetery. Services in the Old Church discontinued in the early 1900s and The Cemetery Company acquired the title to the Old Church in 1934. The Cemetery Company's charter was revoked for non-payment of taxes in 1941 and it is believed that the New Church stopped holding services several years before this.

In December 1959, The Ebenezer Cemetery Company was officially reorganized and incorporated. Since the incorporation of the Ebenezer Cemetery Company the church has cleaned up the cemeteries, purchased land, and restored the churches. Both the Old and New Church were restored in the 1970s and 1980s. Ebenezer Cemetery Company won the Loudoun Preservation Society Award of Merit in 1992 and the churches were placed on the Virginia Register of Historical Places and National Register of Historical Places in1994.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of the official records of Ebenezer Cemetery Company, including meetings and minutes from the years 1967-1993; treasurer's reports from the years 1965-1993; official and personal correspondence between board members and others; documents relating to programs held at the church; a list of the Company's directors and officers from the years 1936-1992. Also included are over 400 records of grave markers and Confederate grave markers.

The Ebenezer Cemetery Record ledger contains documents showing a change in the lot number system, an index of grave plots (1888-1967), and a list of endowments made to the cemetery. The collection also includes oversized sketches of the New Cemetery dated 1978 and 1979, and six ledgers. The ledgers, which cover the years 1923-1966, comprise a variety of records including: lot records, receipts, disbursements, endowments, donations, bonds, expenses and dues, meeting minutes, and a caretaker's book from the years of 1923-1966.

A scrapbook contains newspaper articles and images from the years 1890-1985. Some of the images found in the scrapbook include photographs of renowned painter and Airmont, VA native, Lucien Powell (1846-1930), church events (1984), restoration of the churches (1979), and more. Separate from the scrapbook's collection of images are photographs of Baptist pastors, Dr. J.L. Dagg (1794-1884) and Dr. Isaac Lake (1837-1922).

The collection also includes the project that earned Ebenezer Cemetery Company the Loudoun Preservation Society Award and the awarded certificate. Additional information about the church and cemetery can be found in the included Report of the National Register of Historic Places and the Application to Virginia Landmarks Register.

Arrangement

Chronological

Related Material

Preservation Society of Loudoun County Cemetery Committee Records, 1990 (M 006), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA; Loudoun County, VA Cemetery Collection, 1990- (M 017), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Separated Material

None

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

Ebenezer Cemetery Company Records, August 1888-February 1993 (M 071), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Indexes of Burials for Ebenezer Cemeteries near Bloomfield, Virginia: Old Church Cemetery 1793-1905 and New Church Cemetery 1888-1940 compiled by Anna Sowers.

Indexes of Burials for Ebenezer Cemeteries near Bloomfield, Virginia: 1941-2000 , compiled by Anna Sowers.

Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Historic Registers: Virginia Landmarks Register & National Register of Historic Places Nominations, Nominations Listed by City or County, http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/register_counties_cities.htm (accessed 23 July 2012).

Other Finding Aid

None

Technical Requirements

None